Lucy Beaumont, London

There are easy parallels to draw between the Lucy Beaumont of 2013 and the Sarah Millican of 2006. An extravagantly talented young female performer who's already capable of generating massive laughs, but is still working to refine her comic voice. We all know how Millican's career path has worked out to date, taking her from the lower rungs of the circuit to big theatre gigs and her own TV series, and Hull-born Beaumont may well be capable of following in her sensibly shod footsteps. Much of her material is rooted in her supposedly mundane background, but she mixes things up with some sharp contemporary observations and the odd deliberately silly joke. Already blessed with the BBC stamp of approval (she won their New Comedy Award in the closing months of last year), she could well be destined for very big things.

The Political Party, London

Many people feel that the main political parties don't adequately reflect their own personal beliefs and desires. If Matt Forde had a party that perfectly reflected his world view, it'd have the philosophy of Tony Blair's Labour party, the governing style of Tony Blair's Labour party and the values of Tony Blair's Labour party. Seemingly the last of the card-carrying New Labourites, Forde offsets his centrist ideology with a well-developed comic sensibility, and he's so skilled at cracking gags that he's able to carry audiences of all political persuasions along with him. Still, he faces a formidable challenge with the first of this new run of satirical shows. Not in terms of delighting the crowd (for Forde, that'll be a breeze), but in the shape of his special guest, George Galloway. Expect plenty of heated debate from two guys who are equally incapable of backing down. While they may be incapable of jointly setting the world to rights, the stand-off should create plenty of wholehearted entertainment.

St James Theatre, SW1, Wed

Stand Up For Women, London

Judging by the gender balance at club nights and on panel shows, bookers are terrified that, when faced with a female performer, audiences will fold their (presumably Neanderthal) arms and refuse to laugh until something with testicles comes on. Stand Up For Women isn't a campaign to redress things, but it does provide a showcase of top female talent (and the occasional man) in support of Eaves, a charity working to eliminate violence against women and provide support to its victims. The bill features sharply cerebral Sara Pascoe – who you might recognise from Channel 4's Campus, or as a talentless graphic designer in Twenty Twelve) – eccentric single mum Shappi Khorsandi, plus the hotly-tipped Luisa Omielan, who mixes offbeat life lessons with incredible amounts of never-say-die optimism. Male support comes from Robin Ince, Joel Dommett and inspired anti-comedian Ed Aczel.